AAA Day (Tripple A Day)

Five years ago, I remember walking around the office waiting for news about this little one.  She was on the way and I was so excited!!  And sometime that afternoon - on 2/22/07, the text came through that Adri (short for Adrienne) was here!  

I've mentioned it before, but Natalie and I were roommates in college - in fact, I think she was one of my first friends at Clemson!  And then we worked together for several years so I got to see her every day.  And when she went on maternity leave and then to being a full-time mom, I went over to have lunch with her once every two weeks because our office was so close to their house.  To say that I love this little girl seems like such an understatement.  Honestly, she may as well be my actual niece and not just one of my ClemsoNieces.  She is outgoing, loves being the center of attention, and will perform on the spot.  She used to say no to hugs ALL the time, but she's better about that now :-)  She's silly, loves Minnie Mouse, and used to carry a Care Bear around with her that she called Ro-Ro (no idea how that came about).  Before she could say my name, she called me Seeba and I loved it!  But I will never forget the day she called me Sabrina for the first time... about broke my heart because my little girl was growing up!

Well, this post is actually here for two reasons.  One, today is her 5th birthday!!!  (Happy birthday, sweet girl!!)  And two, it's a celebration for how God has worked in her life over the past two years.  In January 2010, after several weeks of strange seizures, I woke up to see that I had several texts from Natalie (I sleep through almost anything...) that they had gone to the ER in the middle of the night and were waiting on EEG results to see what was going on.  Sitting in the office that day, I was a wreck as I waited to hear how she was doing and what the diagnosis was.  Finally, the text came through that she had a brain tumor.  How could this precious little girl, with parents who loved her to pieces and followed the Lord be diagnosed with a brain tumor??

While the next several weeks were gut wrenching for me, it will never compare to what her family went through as they sat in the waiting room, sat by her side in ICU, waited for her to go into have brain surgery... but to see the faith and strength that Josh and Natalie had during this time, did nothing but increase my faith.  They knew they had nothing to cling to but God... and cling they did.

There are so many details wrapped up in what she went through and some things she going through now that I will never be able to remember.  There's actually still a little bit of the tumor left in her brain, but it has not grown and it's not threatening.  I actually am not sure if they ever plan to go back in to try and get it, but I know that they're watching her and she's having check-ups twice a year and her doctors are just amazing.

You can go back to the beginning and read everything and all the details on her Caring Bridge site (Natalie is incredible with remembering details and recounting them!).  

Well, with it being two years after her diagnosis and it being her 5th birthday, I wanted to get some newer pictures of this sweet girl.  So, in celebration of 5 years and 2 years and all that God has done and continues to do, I hope you enjoy these photos of a beautifully sweet and smily little girl!

Me with Adri on Triple A Day (Adri's Awesome Arrival!)

Their whole family has beautiful blue eyes!

This is Adri posing... :-)

 She found this flower along the way and of course wanted to "pose" with it.

I just had to include this one... a hug for Cooper that he obviously didn't want!

Love.

Happy 5th Birthday!!

She had asked me to draw Minnie Mouse... but I told her she would do a MUCH better job.

She also wanted to write Happy Birthday, so I kept snapping away as I spelled it out for her.

Just a few finishing touches...

Such concentration!

Ta-da!

And finally, a few pictures with the little brothers...

Cooper wasn't really wanting to sit still (which is why he's MIA from this one).

And then he decided it would be funny to PUSH Emory over.

Just one more push!